Ash finds himself in the middle of the hallways of Lumiose Castle. There is no one else here nor are any of the tapestries or decorations showing the Kalos flag are to be seen. The raven-haired man grows uneasy as he feels all alone.
"Hello?" He calls out hearing his voice echoing. "Is anyone here? Brock? Iris? Cilan? Holly? Anybody?"
He hears nothing but his voice echoing the halls as he wanders the castle. He doesn't know what to think of this before he finds himself in the castle throne room. There, he hears someone sitting on the queen's throne crying bitterly. Ash walks closer to find that it's none other than Queen Serena with her head down and her hands covering her face as she weeps.
"Serena?" Ash stress as he rushes over to her. "Why are you crying? Where is everyone? Why is the castle -"
*SLAP*
Ash holds his cheek with his hand in shock after the Queen suddenly stands up and slaps him hard in the face. Ash's eyes widen in fear as the honey blonde queen gives him an angry look.
"Don't you dare address me so informally, peasant," she snarls.
"But I thought you wanted me to," Ash says.
"I changed my mind," Queen Serena says angrily. "I want nothing to do with you after you failed to save me from that fire on my birthday of all days! I was going to ask the man I love for his hand in marriage and you ruined everything by leaving me to die! What kind of esquire are you?"
"I was saving you from that fallen tree," Ash protests with tears in his eyes.
"Oh sure, save me from certain death so that I could be killed soon after," the queen says sarcastically. "Honestly, why did I force my father to make you my bodyguard? Because of you, I'm dead and all of Kalos is in ruins and now you have brought starvation upon Iris, Brock, and Maynor. Seems every attempt you make to save people makes things worse."
Ash hangs his head ashamed as he begins to cry silently.
"Oh, that's right, cry," Queen Serena mocks. "Cry in front of the most powerful queen in the world who would never have wanted you as her husband. You're nothing but a stable boy who was privileged with my beauteous presence before I would get my hands on a real man worthy of my time. I would never so much as blow a kiss at you much less marry a pitiful filth like you if all of existence depended on it."
"Y-y-you don't mean that," Ash cries. "E-e-even if you never loved me, w-w-we're still friends, aren't we?"
"Don't mock me," the queen hisses. "What powerful and magnificent queen would want to be even in speaking terms with a dimwitted boy who thinks a bag of beans are magic. It's the most pathetic thing I have heard in my life!"
Ash feels crushed beyond expression. Every word of anger and bitterness he hears from the woman he loves breaks his heart more than he ever thought possible.
"Now leave my presence and never step foot in my kingdom again!" Queen Serena barks. "If I ever see your face again, I will have your libs cut off and make you wiggle on the ground like the worm you really are!"
"No. No this isn't you," Ash says. "You're the kindest person I've ever known. You would never say anything like that to anyone."
"People change, peasant," the queen says with a wave of her hand. "Sooner or later I was bound to accept the truth of how worthless you are. Now out!"
"Serena please, don't do this."
"Out!"
"Serena I lo -"
"I SAID GET -"
"ASH! BROCK!"
*************************************************************************************
Ash once again leaps into a sitting position on his bed and looks at his surroundings. He sighs in relief, thankful that what he had just witnessed was nothing more than a dream. He can still feel his heart hurting a little from hearing Queen Serena's cruel words in the dream. His moment of relief is interrupted, however, when he feels Iris grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him with a look of shock in her eyes.
"Ash, you gotta come outside quick," she says frantically.
Before Ash can ask what's wrong, Iris runs over to Brock's bed and shakes the tall man hysterically.
"Alright, Iris, alright," Brock says groggily as he wakes up. "We're going to leave."
"No, that's not it," Iris says. "You gotta come outside, it's unbelievable!"
"What's unbelievable, Iris?" Ash asks.
The purple-haired, dark-skinned woman turns to Ash suddenly feeling guilty.
"Ash, I'm so, so sorry," she says.
"Sorry about what? I don't understand," Ash says.
"You were right about the beans," Iris says. "There's a giant beanstalk standing right next to the cottage!"
At this, Brock springs up into a sitting position and stares at the former maid dumbfounded.
"Iris, are you trying to mess with us?" He asks suspiciously.
"Why would I prank you over this?" Iris shouts pointing at the other side of the cottage. "Look! You can see it out the window from where I threw the beans!"
Ash and Brock turn to look at the window from the other side of the cottage and stare in confusion to see something tall and green blocking the window. The two men look at each other for a moment before they snap into action, putting on their clothes and running outside with Iris following behind to stare in amazement.
Standing right next to the cottage from where Iris did indeed throw the beans out the window is an enormous beanstalk so tall that it is reaching past the clouds up in the sky. Ash's mouth hangs open while Brock stands still amazed at the spectacles standing in front of them.
"Wwwwooooowwwwwww," Ash says in amazement.
"As I live and breathe," Brock sets in amazement. "The bearded man was telling you the truth, Ash. Those beans really were magic."
"I know, it's incredible," Iris says frantically. "And not just the beans, but the fact that that this thing can give us food. Look!"
The two men look at where she's pointing and gasp in surprise to see a giant green bean attached to the beanstalk hanging several feet from the ground. They look further up to see several more hanging on the beanstalk. It takes a moment before Ash suddenly begins to laugh happily.
"I knew it!" he shouts joyously. "I knew they were magic! Now, look at us with food to spare!"
"It's incredible," Brock says. "We can probably live off just one of those green beans for weeks."
"We sure can," Iris smiling, feeling happy herself before turning to Ash. "And it's all thanks to you, Ash."
Brock smiles and pats Ash on the back.
"I must admit your decision to trade Whitey for the beans helped us out for the better, buddy," he says. "You did really good."
"Thanks, Brock," Ash says happily until he notices Iris walking over to him with a guilty look.
"While we're on the subject...I'm...I'm really sorry for all those things I said about you and the queen, Ash," She says apologetically.
"It's okay, Iris," Ash says with a small smile. "You were angry and had nothing but my word to go by. Plus, you had Maynor to worry about feeding."
"You don't have to defend me, Ash. I -" Iris says before she gasps and her eyes widen. "Oh my gosh, Maynor! He needs to wake up. Okay, Brock, I need you to cut down one of those green beans so we can get started with breakfast."
"I'm on it," Brock says nodding as Iris goes back inside the cottage. Brock goes to the farm and comes back carrying an ax.
"Ash, get ready to catch the green bean once it's disconnected from the beanstalk," Brock says as he starts climbing on the beanstalk.
"Right," Ash says.
Brock climb ups to the first green bean attached to the beanstalk and with one hand holding on, he swings his ax right at the stem until it breaks. The green bean falls off and Ash catches it with ease. Ash holds the vegetable in amazement as the green bean is nearly the size of a grown person.
"Come on. We better bring this over to Iris," Brock says as he climbs down.
Ash nods in agreement, but before he turns around to head back to the cottage, he hears a faint squeaking sound.
"Hey, did you hear something?" He asks.
Brock looks at him confused until he hears the squeaking too.
"Yeah," he says perplexed. "It sounds like it's coming from the beanstalk."
The two men look up and are surprised as they see a tiny mouse dressed in a pink dress climbing down the beanstalk. Ash and Brock look at each other dumbfounded as the mouse makes its way to the ground and stands up on its hind legs like a human as it turns to look at the two men. Ash and Brock stare at the mouse and it stares back at them looking just as surprised as they are. Suddenly, the mouse begins squeaking loudly with joy as it races after Brock, jumps on his leg and hugs it tightly. Brock stammers nervously as he reaches down and grabs the mouse and yanks it off his leg. He proceeds to throw it, only to find the mouse holding on to his finger tightly.
"What the -? Get off already!" Brock says as he tries to free himself from the mouse.
But no matter how hard he tries, the mouse holds on to his finger tightly. Ash stares at the display in front of him until he notices something.
"Brock, wait, stop," he says. "It's crying."
Brock stops struggling and looks at his friend in confusion until he opens his palm to see that the mouse is indeed crying. Little tears fall down its tiny eyes as it holds on to Brock's thumb with its entire body as if the thumb itself is something or someone the mouse loves and misses dearly. Ash puts down the giant green bean and walks over to stare in amazement.
"This is strange. Mice can't cry," Brock says. "And what in the world is it doing wearing a dress and standing like a human."
Ash stares at the mouse fascinated until he remembers what the bearded man says.
"Hey, the bearded man did say that there might be more to the miracle of the beans," he says. "Maybe there's something up at the top of the beanstalk where this mouse came from."
Instantly, the mouse stops crying and eagerly nods her head while squeaking rapidly as if it's trying to say something.
"Whoa, wait a minute," Brock says. "You understand what Ash said?"
The mouse nods again excitedly.
"Then I'm right. There is something else up there where you live," Ash says. "I say we should climb up and see."
At that, the mouse looks frightened and squeaks frantically.
"What's wrong, little mouse? Is there something you don't want us to see up there?" Brock asks.
The mouse shakes her head and then it suddenly puts its paw on the bottom of its mouth like a human scratching their chin in thought and gets an idea. The mouse then proceeds to do a bunch of movement and charades in attempt to try to say something. Ash and Brock attempt to make out what the mouse is trying to say as best as they can, but by the time the mouse is done, the two men are as confused as ever.
"Did you understand any of that, Brock?" Ash asks.
"I'm not sure," Brock says honestly. "I think she said something about a woman or people frightened by some mean bulking person and someone with magic powers or something of that nature, but I can't tell for sure. Did I get any of that right, little mouse?"
The mouse hesitates and shrugs as a way to say, "More or less."
"But does that mean she needs our help?" Ash asks.
The mouse nods vigorously again and squeaks in eagerness as it points to the sky.
"I don't know," Brock says hesitantly. "It might be dangerous. I mean what can we do if one of the people she is talking about does have magic?"
The little mouse looks at the tall, tan man worryingly and begins to hug his thumb again and lets out a series of pleading squeaks. Brock becomes more uneasy with the little mouse's cries before Ash clears his throat.
"You know, we may be facing danger, but I think this might be an opportunity we should take," he says. "I mean I took a chance with getting those magic beans in the first place and look what that already got us."
"But what about Iris and Maynor?" Brock. asks. "I doubt Iris will want to take her son up there where it can be dangerous."
Neither Brock or Ash notice the mouse looking at the former curiously at the mention of Iris and her son.
"Then they have to stay here," Ash says. "Besides, they'll be okay. We have more than enough food now and no one else still living in Kalos will try anything against a woman like Iris."
"That's true," Brock admits. "Then I guess there's nothing left to do but grab our swords, tell Iris what's up and go."
"Alright," Ash says excitedly. "Then let's go on an adventure."
The little mouse squeals excitedly in agreement.
***********************************************************************************
It took a while to explain everything to Iris once she came back outside the cottage while carrying Maynor. The purple-haired woman was terrified at first at the site of the little mouse, but when Brock and Ash calmed her down and explained everything to her she was only weirded out still by the fact that the mouse was dressed and standing like a human. Once the two men fully brought her up to speed with the mouse trying to explain as best as she could with her movements, Iris reluctantly agreed with Ash that they should take this opportunity since the bearded man was right about the beans.
After Brock and Ash had a quick meal with parts of the green bean that Brock chopped off, the two men grab their belts containing the swords they had as the queen's captain and esquire and begin climbing up the beanstalk with the little mouse.
As the two men and the mouse climb the beanstalk, Ash and Brock begin to tire and begin to find branches to lie down and rest their arms. It wasn't long, however, before they would get uncomfortable stopping as they see how high they are getting the farther they climb. Finally, the little mouse and the two men climb all the way to where the beanstalk is reaching through the clouds. Ash and Brock struggle to see through anything as they try to keep on climbing until the clouds clear and they reach the top of the beanstalk only to discover that they seem to be at the bottom of a drinking well. Ash and Brock stare at each other in confusion until the mouse squeals eagerly while showing them the spots on the well where they can climb out. The two men sigh begrudgingly as they continue climbing until they reach the top of the well and climb over to see that there is solid ground on the other side. They plummet to the ground and groan in pain as they massage their arms.
"That was painful," Ash groans.
"I am never using my arms again for as long as I live," Brock whines.
The mouse squeaks at them again, trying to get them to stand up as they lay down. She tries to slap Brock's face to snap him out of it before pointing at something. Brock groans before he looks to where the mouse is pointing and gasps in shock.
"Ash... are you seeing what I'm seeing?" He asks.
"What, Brock?" Ash asks as he opens his eyes and gasps as well.
The two men stand in awe as they see they are standing just a few feet away from Lumiose Castle standing as tall and proud as they remember it. They check their surroundings and realize they are in the castle grounds where the trees and flowers look like they are dying from lack of proper nutrition.
"Ash, I think you were right about more than just the beans," Brock says as the two men stand up in awe.
"I think so too," Ash says in amazement before something clicks in his mind. "Wait a minute, if the castle is here, then maybe..."
"Hello."
Ash's heart skips a beat and he feels goosebumps all over his body for the first time in a long time. He and Brock dare to turn around to see a shadowy figure standing behind a tree.
"It can't be," Brock says.
The figure walks out of the shadow to reveal a familiar face with the same honey blonde hair but her eyes look faded blue and there's a lifeless smile on her face while wearing a plain ugly green dress.
"S-s-Serena!" Ash screams as he runs over to the woman and hugs her tightly with tears in his eyes. "Y-y-you're here. You're alive!"
"Your Highness," Brock says in amazement as he and the mouse walk over to her. "Thank God you're here! Where is Holly? Is she alright? Where is Cilan and General Wulfric?"
No one notices the mouse looking at Brock sadly at his question.
It takes a moment before Ash and Brock realize that Queen Serena is not responding. Ash releases his embrace on the woman he loves as steps back to see that she's standing still in the same position as if his embrace was nothing but a mere blow in the wind.
"Serena?" Ash asks. "Serena are you okay?"
"Queen Serena, please talk to us," Brock says.
The two men wait a moment before the honey blonde woman finally turns her face robotically to look directly at them. Neither Ash or Brock know how to react until she finally speaks
"Hello," she says again. "My name is Princess Serena. Tell me, who are you?"